Presents
by RachiU
Summary: Ray got his kid a present. He and Neela were remembering back their first major fight. Futuristic, prior to Season 12.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own anything that comes from "ER".

**A/N:** _This means flashbacks._

* * *

Another soft yet persistent cry came from the dim living room. "Alright, alright, I'm coming," Neela yelled over the kitchen counter while trying to check the temperature of milk for the last time; she then hurried back to the living room. Putting the bottle down on the coffee table with a small cluck, Neela looked down amusedly at two big shiny brown eyes staring at her with keen interest; two small arms holding out towards her with eagerness.

"You can't stop fussing for one minute unless you get your bottle, can you?" Neela teased lightly while picking Bela up from the play bin and sitting down on the chair nearby. After positioning Bela in her arms, she took the bottle off the coffee table and started to feed her.

As the baby was sucking on the white nutritious liquid thirstily, Neela said to her softly, "You know, Daddy," Bela looked up briefly and cooed happily as she always did whenever the word, daddy, was mentioned; Neela smiled and continued, "Is getting you a present after work! I can't believe you're ten months old! He won't tell me what he's getting though. He said he wanted it to be a surprise. I'm not sure if I should be worried about that or not," Neela frowned a bit to herself at the thought. "But then again the last time he pulled a stunt like that, you happened. And you were absolutely not a bad surprise." Neela reasoned fondly and bent her head slightly to kiss gently on her daughter's forehead. Bela at the moment was too busy drinking her meal; those dark irises were now half hidden behind the eyelids and lazily fixed on the hundreds of little bubbles that streamed fiercely upwards.

Neela watched her daughter quietly as she thought back over the past couple of years. She and Ray were now in their final year of residency, and they couldn't be more relieved about that. She was amazed that she had got through everything that happened in both her personal and professional life; from the heartbreaking breakup with Michael to accidentally falling in love with Ray; from struggling with her self-esteem and people skills that were required in her line of job to getting their parents' acceptance of the relationship.

Right after Bela was born, they, especially Ray, had to adapt their lifestyles moderately to this wonderful, unexpected newborn. Speaking of Ray, some days she couldn't believe that they'd been together this long. Every day they had two regular jobs; one was at County, the other one was their relationship. Nonetheless, at the end of shift each day, when they had that short yet precious moment all by themselves, the "work" that came with a relationship seemed to be worth it; as cliché as it might sound, it was nice to have someone to come home to. Home, such a short four letter word, but it represented something more than something physical. It was a place where she could be vulnerable, headstrong, self-doubting, confident or in another words, be everything that she wanted and not be judged; she almost had that slipped from her very fingertips.

The memory was flashing at the back of Neela's head; she felt she was back at that narrow supply room again...

_Neela absentmindedly counted the number of swabs, which Abby had asked her to get, from the piled-up shelf that screamed to be reorganized. However, her mind was lingering on that positive result from yesterday's pregnancy test that she took by herself during the lunch break; a million scenarios flew her mind as she was imagining telling Ray about the test._

_"Hey," a husky, familiar voice greeted her from behind; she jumped a little and turned around sharply; her eyes widened as soon as she recognized who it was; then a warm, bright smile took over after the initial shock. The petite resident promptly placed swabs on the nearest shelf and threw herself at the young man, momentarily forgot about the pregnancy._

_"Michael!" she cried and gave him a brief tight hug and pulled back from him. Michael frowned a bit to himself about the briefness of her hug but quickly put on a happy face when he heard she was talking to him._

_"What are you doing here? I didn't realize the base hospital would give you a break in the middle of a week?"_

_"Oh actually I just got back from Germany, and I'm on my way to California. I'm just passing through the neighborhood," shrugged Michael._

_"You're 'passing through the neighborhood'?" Neela questioned doubtfully._

_"I'm changing plane here," he grinned sheepishly. "Can you afford to take a break now? My plane takes off in two hours and I'd really like for us to catch up. We haven't talked for so long."_

_"Have you talked to others? I'm sure Pratt, Abby-"_

_"I've already seen them. Come on, I really wanna catch up with you, whaddya say?" Neela thought for a moment and nodded, "Sure, I'm signing off in five minutes anyways. I'll meet you outside."_

_They ended sitting on the cold hard bench in front of the hospital since Neela convinced Michael that she had promised to meet someone there. It was an unspoken ritual between her and Ray since they started dating to meet right outside of the hospital in between shift changing. This way, even when they were assigned to different shifts, they'd at least get to see each other briefly instead of not at all. The chilly wind blew harshly against Neela; she wrapped her thick coat tightly around her. Michael was telling her about the time he stayed in Germany after she had told him about her recent life. Sometime later, they were both watching snowing falling gracefully down on the ground; it was a fairly peaceful day, highly rare for the ER but very appreciated indeed. A somewhat uncomfortable silence started to grow between them._

_"I missed you," Michael suddenly broke the silence in a dangerously soft tone that was meant for someone more than friends. Neela sighed, "Michael. W-"_

_"Would you stop using that tone?" annoyance was written all over his face when he turned to face her._

_"What tone?" her brow furrowed._

_"That tone of yours. It sounds as if the idea of us getting together is ridiculous."_

_"How could it be ridiculous when it already happened once?"_

_"What about again?"_

_"Michael we've already been thro-"_

_"No, **you** have. I-"_

_"And I also explained to you why. Listen Michael, I care about you. I do."_

_"As a friend, right?" snorted Michael._

_"Slowly yes," glared Neela, "but when I'd decided to do what I did, it wasn't a walk through the park for me either. I wanted a stable relationship."_

_"You think I don't want that too?"_

_"You chose the army."_

_"And you're punishing me for it?"_

_"No! I'm not punishing anyone. I can't merely drop everything I know and have behind and switch hospitals every other month! I'm not an army doctor. Look, the last time you'd come back from Iraq, I realized that I wanted someone that'd be here to share every step of life together. Not just spiritually but physically as well. I couldn't bear a long-distance relationship where your safety was constantly at stake in a long run. It was very stressful, and I'm sure stress wasn't something that you desperately needed either. I suppose I'm more selfish than you," Neela finished the last sentence very quietly. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth again, "It wasn't just the distance, but you and I too. Everytime you came back, I felt like you and I had changed a little without either of us meaning to. And sometimes I think the reason that you keep coming back to me is because it's more convenient."_

_"That's not true," he protested._

_"Well, at least a small part of it is, isn't it?" Michael was silent. She smiled weakly and continued, "Listen, I'm not mad or hurt that you think that, because if I were you, I probably would've done the same thing too. It's always easier to get back to the people you're familiar with rather than establishing a new relationship of any kind from scratch when you've gone through so much and are trying to adjust back to a life you knew before. I don't regret a minute that I spent with you, nor do I resent that you picked the army hospital. I think it's a very honorable choice, but the bottom line is that you and I have changed. And we should move on."_

_"Are you seeing someone else?" he asked with a slight accused tone._

_"I don't see how's that relevant to what we're talking about here," she defended._

_"I think it's very relevant since you're talking about moving on. So are you?"_

_"Yes," the young resident replied simply._

_"Who?"_

_"Mich-"_

_"**Who**?" Michael pressed._

_"Ray. Ray Barnett."_

_"That punk-rocker roommate of yours?"_

_"Yes."_

_The young army doctor gaped at her somewhat bewildered as her confirmation was sinking in gradually but surely._

_"Are you happy with him?" he inquired in a small voice after awhile._

_"Yes I am," staring straight into his gaze, she answered sincerely._

_"Look," said Michael seriously, "I know we've changed, and I am moving on, but I guess there's still a tiny part of me that naively believes being with you could bring my old self back," he raised a hand up before she could say anything, "And yes, I know you can't because it is up to me to be whom I want to be, and not you. I know me wanting my completely old self back is like it wanting to be a kid again. I am adjusting to a new self. Not totally brand new but with old bits here and there, you know?"_

_"Yeah, and I know the 'new' you will be a big hit," she smirked playfully._

_He chuckled loudly to himself and stared at her. Without any warning, he leaned forward to kiss her sweetly on the lips. Neela was caught off guard and froze for several seconds before she could comprehend what was happening._

_"What the hell!" a voice, that she never wished to hear at that moment, roared at them from a few feet away. Neela stood up as if the bench was on fire and saw a confused, fuming Ray running towards Michael._

_"Ray! Thi-" Neela said surprisingly. Before she could finish, the rocker resident had thrown his right fist at Michael but fortunately, the former County General doctor ducked it fast._

_"Stop it, Ray!" shouted Neela and grabbed his right arm with all her might._

_"I...I'm so sorry. I didn't know what came over me...I shouldn't have done it," Michael apologized earnestly._

_"The hell you shouldn't!" Ray yelled again trying to free his arm from the petite resident's firm grasp._

_"Ray Barnett! Stop acting mad! Get your ass to work. This doesn't concern you!" Neela said sternly. Ray whipped his head sideways and stared at her incredulously for a moment, then held his two hands up in the air as though in surrender and said coldly, "Fine. I'll go. I guess 'us' doesn't concern you either." With that, he picked up the duffel bag that he had dropped earlier and headed to the hospital door angrily._

_"Do you want me go talk to him?" Michael asked hesitantly after they saw Ray disappearing into the hospital._

_"No, I'll do it when he's calmed down," Neela sighed heavily and looked back up at him, "I think you should go now, or you'll miss your plane."_

_"I'll take you home. Wait, aren't you meeting someone here?"_

_"You just saw him."_

_"Oh."_

_"I'll catch a taxi so don't worry about me. Take care, Michael."_

_"You take care too," his mouth arched up lightly; he was about to give her a hug but thought the better of it, "and I'm really sorry about the kiss."_

_Neela nodded understandingly and left to hail a taxi wordlessly._

_Slamming her bedroom closed, Neela flopped down on her bed without even bothering to change her clothes. She turned to lie on her stomach and buried her face into the puffy pillow. Tears were threatening to come out as she screamed into the sunken pillow. Everything had become so complicated, so fast; she hadn't even figured out how she'd tell Ray about the pregnancy and now this happened. She wondered how in the world she'd sort everything out, but right now, she felt worn out; she just wanted go to sleep..._

A small tug at her hair brought Neela back to the reality. She blinked for second and looked down at her daughter who was moving all her fours up in the air and making spontaneous, incomprehensible babbles. Neela laughed softly to herself and put down the bottle. Holding Bela up over her shoulder, she gently patted her back until a loud burp came out of the small baby. She settled Bela back into the play bin, played with her for a moment, and went back to the kitchen to clean the milk bottle.

**To Be Continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

Two gruff grunts and a loud thump echoed off the walls as a heavy item dropped in front of the silver metal doors; Ray impatiently pushed the "up" button while Brett stretched to relieve the tension caused by helping Ray carrying the weighty box all the way from the van to the apartment.

"Ray, you sure Neela's agreed to this? Because I don't recall her liking this kinda stuff much," Brett asked uncertainly and looked down at the package again; it was a fairly large box and wrapped up in baby blue paper with drawings of maroon puppies running all over the place; a big bright pink bow tied securely on the top.

"Man, relax will you?" Ray rolled his eyes, "She knows I've got a surprise for Bela, and that's translated to brace herself for the worst possible to happen." Brett raised an eyebrow at him, still not convinced, "And may I add that I don't think this is anywhere near the worst."

"Not yet."

"Hey! Gimme some credit."

"What can I say? You haven't earned it," Brett shrugged at him.

Several minutes passed by, the elevator still hadn't opened. Ray sighed slightly; he frankly wanted to know what the heck the landlord was doing with all their monthly rent. Would it kill her to get the elevator fixed? He would have taken the stairs if not for the box; plus, he wasn't terribly eager to break his back for something to which he wasn't sure how Neela would react. Honestly, the best response that he could imagine getting out of her was nonchalance; the worst, well, let's say breaking his back wouldn't sound too bad in comparison.

When he decided to get it as a present for Bela, he thought his argument was pretty valid-- she carried his last name hence she couldn't grow up without one. Yep, that was a perfect reason, he rationalized with himself; if Neela didn't see it that way, he'd try his charms on her; after all, she did go from disliking to loving him, so his charming spells must have worked sometime! Okay, so his reason, checked, charms, checked; even if she wouldn't buy either one, having two plans made him feel damned good and prepared at the moment.

He then wondered what would Bela's reaction be, he knew that she was merely ten months old, but one was never too young to start something new right? Bela, Ray beamed contently at the thought of her. Other than looking as cuddly and chubby as any baby would, she had shown little features from both parents; her mother's deep warm chocolate pools that each seemed to be a mysterious galaxy all of its own, her father's slim dimples near the tips of her mouth that were only visible when smiling widely, and a mixture of their soft brunette hair. He adored her dearly from the moment the newborn was placed in his arms. A few days ago, she said her first word-- dada; he felt a swell of pride every time she said it, and it was rather often since she called everything and everyone "Dada". He might not be less arrogant, but having her made him more attentive towards child patients.

When he and Neela were dating, raising kids wasn't something he had even thought of. He could still remember their first date. Neither of them knew what to do or how to act. What would one do on a date with someone whom they were literally, though not figuratively, living with? It wasn't possible for them to pretend because they knew each other quite well already. They ended up staying behind at the bar where he had a gig that night. After his band was done, he went back to the table where Neela was sitting; they kept smiling nervously at each other for minutes before finding it ridiculous that they would be shy at talking to each other. That night was also extra special to him because it was the first time she came to listen to his band playing. The idea of being parents was still something that they needed to get used to. Ray thought back to the day when he first heard she was pregnant, oh boy did that go well...

_Yawning lazily to himself, Ray rubbed his eyes tiredly and stuffed his duffle bag into his locker with one hand. He really shouldn't have gone out that late with the gang last night. It was days since the infamous kissing incident, and they hadn't talked to or seen each other. Mainly because he wasn't ready to see her; he had been crashing at Brett's place. As he was leisurely adjusting his white coat, Neela came busting through the staff lounge door and slammed it shut behind her._

_"Ray, we need to talk," she stated seriously seeing him suddenly jerk around._

_"No, we don't," Ray turned his back to his girlfriend once he recognized her familiar figure, "there's nothing to talk about."_

_"Yes there is," she took two strides towards him and impulsively grabbed his arm to make him face her._

_"Is that so?" he quirked an eyebrow at her and sneered icily, "Mind enlightening me, Rasgotra?"_

_"Don't take that tone with me Barnett," Neela shot back exasperated._

_"Funny, you should know why I'd use that tone. You're supposed to be the smart one."_

_"He **surprised** me. And--"_

_"And did you like it?" Ray asked sarcastically, "Did you savor the sweet taste on his lips, huh? Did you just want to fu--"_

_"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" the petite doctor glared at him angrily, "I didn't kiss back."_

_"Well, Hallelujah! The world can start moving again because you didn't kiss back, can't it?"_

_"Look, you showed up the second he leaned forward to kiss me, how the heck could I have the chance to push away?"_

_"Oh, so you're blaming me for the bad timing?"_

_"I'm NOT blaming you. Jeez, why does everyone think I'm doing them wrong?" feeling frustrated, Neela complained._

_"Come find me when you've figured that out," the green-eyed doctor said apathetically and turned sideways to close his locker door._

_"What, you're gonna just ignore me from now on?" Neela questioned incredulously, watching her indifferent boyfriend begin to walk towards the door._

_"That's the plan."_

_"Grow up Ray! It was just a stupid kiss that didn't mean anything."_

_"To whom?" he inquired quietly before stopping to look at her with a solemn face._

_"What?"_

_"To whom the kiss was just 'a stupid kiss'?" _

_"To me of course," she answered as-matter-of-factly._

_"Are you sure about that? Because you sure hell didn't sound like it when you told me to get lost. In fact, you sounded as if I were some crazy jealous ex that was ruining your date," he spat bitterly._

_"You were getting physical with him!"_

_"He was with you so why shouldn't I?"_

_"You know, being my boyfriend does not give you the right to be over-protective whenever a guy gets close to me."_

_"First of all, he wasn't just 'getting close' to you, as you called it, he was frigging sucking your face. Second, it's my Goddamn right to protect my woman."_

_"**Your** woman?" she was dangerously close to losing patience with him, "You know what, I'm done trying to talk sense into your damned thick seventeenth century old head. When you decide to think like a twenty-first century adult, I'll talk. God forbid you'll still think of us as properties when the baby comes."_

_"What did you say?" he frowned alarmingly._

_"I said," realizing she had a slip of tongue and couldn't put off her pregnant news any longer, she cursed herself silently, "I'm done talkin--"_

_"No, no, you said, 'us' and 'the baby'. Are...You're pregnant?" his eyes widened perplexedly._

_"Why else would I mention the word baby, genius?"_

_"Whose is it?"_

_"Excuse me?" asked Neela cautiously; she was completely taken surprise by his inquiry._

_"Whose baby are you carrying?" Ray repeated firmly._

_"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"_

_"It means is that baby even mine or does it belong t--"_

_"You think I'd cheat on you!" she snarled disbelievingly._

_"What am I supposed to think?" he yelled back defensively, "You were parading around like a floozy, kissi--"_

_SLAP! A loud, sharp sound echoed the lounge as the dark-haired doctor's hand smacked fast and hard across Ray's face. Clenching her jaw, she said each word through her teeth with force and slight tremble, "I don't. **Ever**. Want to see you. Again."_

_Any thoughts of empathizing with him or trying to put herself in his shoes had gone out of the window in the blink of an eye. She flew furiously to the door; brushed pass Pratt, who had just entered, without saying hi._

_'Shit, that hurts!' Recovering from shock, Ray briefly touched the now reddened skin on the side of his face and slumped onto the bench. How did he make everything worse? He guessed he had achieved his goal; his comments had hurt her as much as he'd been stung when seeing Michael kissing her. Hell, if he was being true with himself, it wasn't really about the kissing because he knew Neela didn't initiate it and he didn't give her enough time to react before jumping on Michael. It was the fact that she hurt his pride; he felt, as a guy, he did an honorable thing by protecting and defending the woman he loved, and yet, she dismissed him like some disobedient boy and humiliated him in front of her **ex-boyfriend** of all people. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he glanced up at Pratt and gave a don't-ask look. Pratt tilted his head at him half concerned, half amused, sat right next to him, and sympathetically patted his shoulder..._

A sharp pain startled Ray back to the apartment. Rubbing his arm gently, he looked at Brett in bewilderment. "Door's open," Brett said innocently while holding a hand out to prevent the door from closing. Ray slid the box into the elevator with all his power, and Brett followed him inside; after the floor number button was pressed, the two men fixed their gazes intensely on the LED display, watching the upward motion of the elevator causing the number to rise steadily.

Breaking the silence, Brett asked unexpectedly, "When are you gonna make an honest woman out of her?"

"Oh God, not you too!" the young ER doctor groaned, "Do you have any idea how many times my mom brings it up whenever she calls?"

"Hey, that's a very appropriate question for the woman who gave birth to you. So when?" the blond friend pressed.

"I dunno. We talked briefly about it once when Neela was pregnant, but we got so overwhelmed at the hospital among other things that it got put on the back burner."

The metal doors opened; they both quickly pushed the box out, bent down to pick it up, and started to carry it down the hall.

"Do you want to?"

"Yeah, I'd like that eventually," Ray said thoughtfully.

When they breathlessly arrived at the apartment door, they put the package down carefully on the floor; Ray then promptly took the keys out of his pants pocket.

"Then what's the problem?"

"It's not that simple."

"You get a ring, bend down on one knee, and pop the question. What's so hard about that? Oooh, prepare some fancy speech beforehand and show her the ring first. I've heard chicks dig that!" he added as an after thought.

"I swear Brett," warned Ray, starting to get annoyed, "no more--"

"I'm giving you pointers man. You should be--"

"Aah, one more word out of your mouth about marriage or proposing," he pointed his apartment key at his friend threateningly, "I'll tell Neela that you swore in front of Bela last week."

"It was an accident! I--" he exclaimed immediately.

"Well, I can promise you she won't care for the difference, not that I'll stop you from trying," Ray smirked evilly at a somewhat worried Brett. Placing his key into the key hole, he unlocked the door with a gently click, and finally home sweet home.

**To Be Continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

Switching the living room lights on, Ray surveyed the quiet apartment without a sound as Brett forcibly slid the weighty box underneath the curtained window. The chestnut-haired doctor immediately spotted two still figures lying horizontally on the couch. He keenly strode over to take a closer look at them.

The corners of his mouth curved upward slightly at the sight before him; here was Neela sleeping peacefully, one arm circled tightly around Bela's small frame and the other was holding a colorful children's book which dangled dangerously over the edge of the sofa. Ray shut the reading lamp off by the sofa arm, checked his watch, and found out his girlfriend only had an hour before her shift would start; so that meant he had no choice but to wake her up.

Taking one quick peek at Brett, who was concentrating with great effort on straightening the package up against the window, he leaned over the couch to brush his lips softly upon hers.

The unexpected pressure sensation made her resting eyes snap wide open.

"Ray?" Neela asked in a raspy voice and blinked repeatedly to adjust to the light.

"I'm home," Ray beamed widely at her.

"What time i---"

Half way through sitting up, she suddenly remembered that she had Bela sleeping in her arm. As she glanced down, she knew her realization came too late. Two dozing chocolate brown irises already looked up confusedly at her; they then darted unsurely to the side and saw another face gazing fondly back at her; recognition instantly glistened brightly in them.

"Dada!" Bela babbled delightedly and twisted awkwardly in her mother's arm to stretch her short arms out to her father.

"Hey Bebe," Ray placed a light kiss on her forehead once those chubby arms of hers went securely around his neck.

"Ahem," Brett cleared his throat loudly to remind them of his presence.

"Brett," Neela greeted casually as she lazily got up from the sofa.

Looking adoringly at Bela, Ray pointed at his friend who was waving childishly at her. 

"Do you remember Uncle Brett?"

"Hi Bela." After she smiled shyly at him, Brett turned his attention back to the petite doctor.

"Hello Neela. Looking beautiful as usual."

She chuckled good naturedly, "Your timing with me still hasn't improved, has it?"

"Who knows, maybe it will someday," he winked playfully at her.

"I'm still here you know," Ray pretended to be annoyed.

"Is that the present?" Neela questioned curiously, noticing a huge size of package behind Brett.

"Yep, that's it," Ray grinned enthusiastically at his daughter again, "Do you wanna see what's inside that puppy paper?" 

She nodded fiercely and he quickly asked Brett, "Would you do the honors?"

"Gladly!" He carefully torn the wrapper off and used his pocket Swiss knife to cut open the box. As soon as he stepped off to the side to allow them to have a better view of the present, Neela thought, 'Oh, I should've known!'

There it was, a complete five piece red metal, one and a half feet tall drum set. It had two power toms and a bass drum in the middle; a wood snare drum and hi-hat cymbals on the right; a floor tom and ride/crash cymbal on the left; and a pair of woodened sticks sitting perfectly on the black leathered drum throne.

Bela was staring strangely at the pieces of shining metal that went around the drums and stands; the two grownup males were smiling proudly to themselves while Neela had an unreadable expression on her face.

Seconds later, Neela turned to her boyfriend and demanded firmly,

"Ray, talk in the kitchen. Now."

"Sure," Ray hesitantly handed the baby to his blond buddy and went after her.

"Your daddy is in big trouble," Brett whispered in a sing-song voice to Bela's ear and brought her to the drum set to let her play with it.

When both of them were behind the kitchen counter, Neela opened her mouth before Ray had the chance.

"What is that?"

"It's a children's drum set," Ray retorted amusedly.

"Don't get smart with me. I know what that **is**. Why did you buy it though? She's not even one year-old!"

"Hey, no kids of mine will be music illiterate. Doesn't matter what age they are."

"And no kids of mine will grow up deaf!"

"Don't worry. The sound ain't gonna be that bad. I'll make sure of it," Neela raised an eyebrow at him doubtfully, "Ok, I'll tune it and **you**'ll make sure it meets the 'Neela-Noise' standard. How's that sound?"

Neela threw a washcloth somewhat forcefully at him and sighed, "Fine. But when your daughter only has boys around sixteen years from now, don't come complaining it to me."

"Oh, I'm one step ahead of ya. If that does happen, I'll simply have them neutered before they can get within one mile of her. I'm a doctor and her **gorgeous** mother is great at slicing bodies open. That's two advantages I have over most people," Ray wiggled his left index and middle fingers at her smugly while using his right hand to toss the washcloth, that landed on his head, in the sink.

"Flattery will get you nowhere Barnett," she rolled her eyes.

"I'd say it gets me **somewhere**," he said in a seductive tone.

"I'm going to change for work," unimpressed, Neela ignored his last comment and walked past him, headed to the bedroom.

Finally caught up with her words, Ray decided right off the bat that this would be a perfect opportunity for them to have some alone time together before she had to go to the hospital. He then yelled to Neela's back, "Wait up!"

Seeing no signs of slowing down from her, Ray turned to Brett and said hurriedly, "Watch her for a moment, will ya?"

Without waiting for a reply, he ran rapidly towards the direction of bedroom. 

"Hey don't do anything you guys don't want your kid to see. Or hear!" Brett shouted over the booming noise of Bela randomly hitting the drums but it was too late, he was met with a loud sound of slammed door.

**To Be Continued...**


	4. Chapter 4

Plopping himself down on the bouncy mattress next to the clothes that Neela had laid out neatly for work, Ray quietly watched her slipping out of the sweatshirts and pants. Wearing only red lacy underwear, she turned to the side to pick up a black pencil skirt. His green eyes traveled intensely along with her slender fingers as they loosely held the skirt down to her feet and then gracefully slid it up, passing her legs that seemed luminous from the streetlight shining through the window, to the top of her hip where she started to zip the back zipper.

A warm palm unexpectedly hovered over her hand and another at her bare waist; the petite resident darted her eyes down at her scruffy-faced boyfriend surprised as he cautiously zipped it up from behind. At the tip of the zipper, both of his hands slithered gently around the waist to the front of her abdomen. After months of exercising, it had finally paid off. Now her stomach was nearly as flat as before the pregnancy. Ray's hands softly caressed over the skin as if the baby were still inside...

_Feeling rather thirsty after a good hour nap, Neela padded groggily out of her bedroom and into the kitchen to get a cup of water to drink. She unconsciously glanced sideways at the guitar that had been leaning again the entertainment center shelf for days now. Shaking her head slightly, she wouldn't allow herself to dwell on Ray in any way, shape or form. That, however, had been much more difficult than she expected because half of the things in the apartment still belonged to him. As she slogged towards the sink, a dark, tall figure leaped out from the other side of the refrigerator._

_"Aaah!" Neela yelled and jumped back a couple of feet. Upon realizing who it was, she swatted the person's arm, "Ray, what the hell? You scared me to death."_

_"Sorry," he murmured sheepishly._

_"Didn't I tell you that I don't want to see you?" She glared and crossed her arms together _

_"Can't I come by my own apartment once in awhile?" Ray argued._

_"Well, considering that you missed paying the rent last week, it's hardly your apartment anymore."_

_"I want to talk."_

_"I just love how karma works," sneered Neela._

_"Look," continued Ray, deciding to ignore her comment, "I'm sorry for saying--"_

_"That I'm a slut?"_

_"I never said you were one."_

_"Yeah, and I'm feeling so much better knowing that I was only accused of **acting** like one instead of **being** one."_

_"I would've never said it if you hadn't kissed Michael."_

_"You really have a way of turning things around and making it about me."_

_"I'm not mak--"_

_"What is your problem anyway?" Neela exploded, her emotions had finally caught up with her and she no longer felt in control anymore, "I tried so bloody hard to see that day from your perspective so I could explain it to you, but did you wanna listen? Nooo, you just wanted to bloody jump into conclusions and came up with accusations that were not only insulting to me but to--"_

_"You humiliated me in front of him."_

_"In front of whom?"_

_"Michael! You made me look like an ass in front of him!" Ray shot back angrily._

_"No, I didn't."_

_"Yes, you did. You dismissed me."_

_"I've done that before."_

_"But not because of an ex."_

_"What difference does that make?"_

_"It makes all the difference the world!" Ray was getting frustrated; he wasn't sure how to get her to understand the importance of a guy valuing his pride, "How would you like it if I did the same thing to you in front of an ex of mine?"_

_"Well, I'd kick both of your behinds before listening to you," blurted out Neela without thinking. Ray stared at her with amusement for a moment; he knew she had a fighsty side in her somewhere! He could just imagine a cat fight between her and an ex of his. Ahh, what a sight would that be? The hazel-eyed doctor then burst out laughing at the thought. Realizing what she had just said, Neela blushed fiercely from embarrassment. After his laughter died down, the mood between them had somewhat changed for the better. He looked at her sincerely._

_"Listen, I'm really sorry for everything I said at the lounge. I was upset. I didn't mean any of them. I won't say anything like that again."_

_"And I'm sorry that I humiliated you. I didn't do that on purpose. I just didn't want casualties to happen right in front of the hospital. I'm also sorry I slapped you that time in the locker room," Neela softened up a little after his apologies._

_"I could fight him if I wanted to you know," Ray stated confidently while the corners of his mouth curved upwards._

_"Yes, I'm sure you could fight against a combat soldier," said Neela in a playful sarcastic tone, slowly advancing to him for an embrace._

_They hugged each other tightly for a long moment and he mumbled into her shoulder, "Love you."_

_"Love you too," she muffled back._

_Then, Ray remembered something. He looked down at Neela and said, "Can I touch your stomach?"_

_"I doubt it that you can feel anything. It's still early."_

_"It doesn't matter."_

_"Okay."_

_He waited patiently for Neela to lift the hem of her tank-top up to reveal her stomach. It was still fairly flat. Only a tiny bump if he looked closely. Ray gazed up at her once again with a mixture of anticipation and fear and stared down again. Raising his right hand, that he didn't even realize it was shaking slightly, he carefully tapped the warm skin as if to test if her belly was burning hot. He tenderly proceeded to place the tips of his fingers on her stomach and then gradually slid them sideways until the whole hand was covering the skin. He felt the warmth creeping from her abdomen for a second and started to caress the stomach softly while a smile took over his face..._

A piercing cymbal cling shook the idling couple back to the present; they chuckled to themselves. Without warning, Ray gently yanked his half-dressed girlfriend to him from behind, swiftly positioned her on the bed, pinned her securely against the mattress, and dipped his head down to kiss her leisurely. As Neela was enjoying the sweet sensation, Ray pulled away and asked nervously, "So you aren't angry with me for buying the drum set?"

"Actually, I'm surprised you didn't get her a guitar."

"That will come later when Bela's motor skills are more developed," he grinned.

"Oh, I just had to ask, didn't I?" Neela groaned, "Anyway, speaking of presents, what do you want for your birthday?"

"You," the rocker-resident said solemnly with a slight tremble in his voice, "to have my last name officially?"

"Yes," Neela was beaming like a thousand-watt light bulb and lifted her head up to kiss him deeply.

"Wow, Brett was right," Ray whispered breathlessly after they broke apart due to lack of oxygen.

"Should I feel disturbed that you were thinking about Brett just now?" frowned Neela, pretending to be concerned.

"What? No, no, no. He was telling me how proposing shouldn't be that hard earlier, so I--"

Seeing his earnestness in trying to explain himself, Neela laughed out loud making Ray questioned confusingly, "What's so funny?"

"Oh, you're too cute," was all she said and giggled some more. He let that slide since her laughter sounded like music to his ears even though it was at his expense.

"So, do I need to ask a ring for my birthday?" inquired Neela teasingly.

"I'll get you one next time I get paid," replied Ray as he lowered his head down to kiss her again.

Suddenly, a series of knocking startled them. He got up quickly and Neela frantically put on her shirt. Ray opened the door and saw Brett holding a fist-sucking Bela at his arm length. Before Ray could open his mouth, he knew what was wrong. A smell of poop was coming from Bela. The brown-eyed doctor behind him saw this as her perfect chance to get away. She snatched her purse off the nightstand, gave her boyfriend and daughter a kiss and a quick "be good", and rushed out of the door.

Ray was holding the baby carefully in his arms and sighed dramatically while looking at her, "Guess your mom bailed out on us. Well, let's get you changed! Brett, could you get a towel from that top drawer? Brett?" Before Ray could turn his head around to see where his band-buddy went, he heard a loud slamming sound of his front entrance door. "Well," Ray smirked mischievously at a cooing Bela, "Now I know a perfect way to get rid of Uncle Brett fast."

**The End.**


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